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Clinical collaborators wanted*

 *Trainee psychiatrists collaborating with Ciara in Reading need a local consultant psychiatrist supervisor and the appropriate clinical NHS contract and management approval of the responsible Trust to get involved in clinical research (KPE).

Dr Ciara McCabe, Department of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading

In the Neuroimaging of Reward Group (NRG) we are interested in the neurobiology of the symptom of anhedonia in depression. We use multi-modal neuroimaging techniques (EEG/fMRI) to examine the reward response in those at risk of depression and also patients with depression (adolescents) in collaboration with Prof Shirley Reynolds. We are also interested in the effects of current pharmacological treatments on these systems and aim to investigate this further by comparing psychological with pharmacological treatment effects on the reward response.

We are also interested in examining the reward response in eating disorders and currently, along with Dr Horndasch a visiting psychiatrist who specialises in anorexia and bulimia research, we are investigating the reward response in those at risk of eating disorders and the effects of current pharmacological treatments like naltrexone (a possible treatment for bulimia) on the neural reward response. For this research we are also using the extremely novel technique of simultaneous EEG/fMRI recording.

Relevant publications:

1.            McCabe C, Cowen PJ, Harmer CJ (2009): Neural representation of reward in recovered depressed patients. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 205:667-677.

2.            McCabe C, Mishor Z, Cowen PJ, Harmer CJ (2010): Diminished neural processing of aversive and rewarding stimuli during selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment. Biol Psychiatry. 67:439-445.

3.            McCabe C, Mishor Z, Filippini N, Cowen PJ, Taylor MJ, Harmer CJ (2010): SSRI administration reduces resting state functional connectivity in dorso-medial prefrontal cortex. Molecular Psychiatry.

4.   McCabe C, Mishor Z (2011): Antidepressant medications reduce subcortical-cortical resting-state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers. Neuroimage. 57:1317-1323.

5.            Cowdrey FA, Park RJ, Harmer CJ, McCabe C (2011): Increased Neural Processing of Rewarding and Aversive Food Stimuli in Recovered Anorexia Nervosa. Biol Psychiatry.

6.            Cowdrey FA, Filippini N, Park RJ, Smith SM, McCabe C (2012): Increased resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network in recovered anorexia nervosa. Hum Brain Mapp.